Miranda Frum

The neighbourhoods outside of Paris, where the longtime Muslim European residents live have become a security problem. They have become slums which the central government actively avoids. Due to a lack of government involvement, a growing detachment from the State grows within the local Muslim youth. In these lost neighbourhoods, the terrorists of today and tomorrow are raised. These are the areas were ISIS operatives look to recruit new foreign fighters.

One of the most excruciating moments which can happen in a single woman's life is being stood up. Being a member of the Stood Up Ladies Club, I have created a list for future members on how to cope (although I really hope that you don't ever have the pleasure of joining this club if you haven't been there).

Perhaps it's because we feel envy or threatened by women who are different from ourselves. Thus we create ridiculous, arbitrary rules of needing to be one thing or another: You can't be beautiful AND smart. You can't be nerdy AND socially adept. You can't be powerful AND a flirt.

When I first mentioned quitting smoking to my grandmother (an ex-smoker herself) and my plan to simply reduce my intake, or to try an e-cigarette, she firmly and adamantly shook her little white head and insisted, "The only way is cold turkey." She was right.

I have done something I would never have thought possible -- I've gone cold turkey. I feel as if I have seven years of poison seeping out through my skin. Despite the physical agony, one thing is making me feel good: the realization that I haven't had any nicotine in 24 hours.

An e-cigarette has arrived for me in the mail. My younger brother bought it for me after researching every possible type of e-cigarette available on the market (that's what boys do). It's a stainless steel cylinder with a button and a filter attached. It resembles something that a terrorist would pull out of his carry-on on a plane.

In recognition of National Quitting Smoking week, two of Huffpost's young contributors, Miranda Frum and Daniel Alexandre Portoraro, have volunteered to quit smoking and keep a daily journal about it. Readers: Support them! And please share your own struggles about trying to kick an addiction, whether it was cigarettes or anything else.

Another group should stand accused alongside the Shafia family, during the ongoing trial of their daughter's murders: the social service and youth protection professionals who catastrophically let the Shafia girls down.

While Health Canada refuses to authorize the selling of healthy e-cigarettes, Vancouver's Coastal Health Authority has begun to give out free crack pipes. No longer will crackheads have to stand outside and brave the elements!

The government is aware that American guns are travelling into the hands of very dangerous people, however nothing is really done. Rick Perry has spoken of a potential American involvement in Mexico, complete with sending troops over the border and maintaining order. But is this effective?

The very first modelling agency I applied to was Wilhelmina Models. I was told to leave my photos with the receptionist and then wait in a sitting area with six or seven other girls. Finally my name was called. "Have you ever considered plus size modeling?" asked an agent. I was humiliated.

Canadians are famously polite, but as I have found as an American living in Canada, this may just be a very convenient stereotype. Politeness does not automatically mean you are also kinder, or more generous, or a generally better person than another.